Storm 40, Soul 44

Storm Insider

Recap

With just over seven minutes remaining in ArenaBowl XXX, Tampa Bay Storm kicker Mark Lewis booted an onside kick that was recovered by teammate Allen Chapman, and moments later, Storm quarterback Randy Hippeard threw a touchdown bomb to Justin Hilton, the long strike cutting Philadelphia’s lead to 37-34.

Prior to the onside recover and subsequent touchdown, the Storm were teetering on the brink of defeat.

The sudden-change sequence gave new life to the Storm.

The Soul summarily snuffed it out one offensive play later.

Following a second Lewis onside attempt recovered by Philadelphia, Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh hit receiver Shaun Kauleinamoku in the corner of the end zone to push Philly’s lead back to 10. The Soul held on over the final minutes to defeat the Storm 44-40 in front of its home crowd of 13,648 at the Wells Fargo Center, winning their second-consecutive ArenaBowl.

A valiant effort by the Storm to capture what would have been an Arena Football League-best sixth championship fell just short.